[RADIOSHABELLE] Somalia myrmidon group, al-Shabaab... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord..., on Friday captured the strategic Balad town, about 30 km north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in the latest mid-morning attack, officials said.

A regional member of State Parliament Abdukadir Osman Abdisalan confirmed the attack at Balad town by the bully boyz who also attacked the cop shoppe with kabooms.

"The fighting is going on at the moment between government troops and al-Shabaab fighters. We will update you later," Abdisalan told Radio Shabelle.

[RADIOSHABELLE] A jacket wallah rammed a car into a Somali military base about 30 km (20 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu on Friday, killing one soldier, the military said.

The attack, claimed by the Lion of Islam group al-Shabaab... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord..., occurred when the base was almost empty shortly before Friday prayers, Major Abdullahi Ise told Rooters.

Three more soldiers were killed in a separate bombing targeting their truck as it headed into the capital with soldiers maimed in the first bombing, Ise said.

[All Africa] The Federal Government has said that it has extended ongoing search for the 110 girls who were kidnapped from the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State, has be to the neighbouring countries.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said top military and security officials on Thursday travelled to the North-east to add more urgency to the search, which has now been extended beyond the North-east theatre.

The officials include the nation's top military officer and Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; Chief of Army Staff; Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Alhaji Lawal Daura.

They joined the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who had earlier relocated to the North-east, as well as the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd), who has also visited the theatre.

The Federal Government had earlier released the names and other details of the 110 girls who have yet to be accounted for, following the attack on the GGSTC, Dapchi, Yobe State, on 19 Feb. 2018.

The panel set up by the Federal Government to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls was inaugurated on Thursday by the NSA.

[All Africa] Burkina Faso...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...'s information minister says four Islamic Lions of Islam have been killed in an attack on the French Embassy and French cultural center in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Witnesses say gunnies got out of a car and opened fire on passersby before heading to the embassy at the start of the Friday attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office says he is following the situation and French authorities are urging French citizens to avoid the city center.

The U.S. Embassy also warned Americans to stay out of the city center.

A message posted on Facebook by the embassy said: "Attack under way at the French embassy and French Institute. Stay indoors."

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Unknown button men assassinated holy man Al Habib Aidroos Ben Abdullah bin Sumait, a prominent scholar and imam of al-Mehdhar Mosque in his home in the city of Tarim in Hadhramaut, southern Yemen.

The button men pretended to be joining the holy man to read Koran, and after he allowed them in, they shot him as he performed his prayer, according to sources close to the dear departed.

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr condemned the liquidation, which he described as an attack on moderate thinking that rejects deviant ideas and rejects them socially.

He added that Bin Sumait was one of the moderate voices known for his honesty and morals.

The attack is the first of its kind in the city of Trim, which is renowned for its role in advocating tolerance, rejecting violence and advocacy for moderation.

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The battles of the Yemeni army moved to the north-east gate of the capital Sanaa advancing towads Horan, the first district in Arhab northeast of Sanaa near Nahem.

This marks a significant milestone for the Yemeni army, supported by the Arab coalition forces, to restore the capital Sanaa from the control of the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...militia, and to end its coup, given the strategic importance of Arhab area.

The strategic importance of Arhab
Arhab is located northeast of Sanaa, north of Bani al-Harith Directorate near Sanaa. It is about 25 km long and its borders are connected in the north and west with the governorate of Amran (the northern gate of Sana'a).

From the eastern side it is connected to Nahem, and both areas (Arhab and Nahem) constitute the majority of the capital’s total area.

Arhab, is considered one of the largest zones for Baqil tribes in yemen, as it connects three governorates: Sanaa, Amran and Al Jouf, and falls under the dominion of Sanaa.

It also overlooks Sanaa International Airport and Delami Air Base.

It has an area of 1308 km and at the center of the district lies (Beit Maran). Arhab has 240 villages spread over 15 districts.

Strategically, in the current battles against the Houthi militia, the military engagement across Nahem and Arhab tribal areas narrows the access to the city of Sanaa from the north-east and the north, especially as the Ahrab tribes extend geographically to the outskirts of Rida town in Amran governorate.

From Arhab, it is possible to move westward to Amran governorate to cut the road between Sanaa and Saada.

The tribe of Arhab, where there is no support for Houthis, has many tribal clans reaching to the Shibam and Hamdan area in the north of Sanaa.

The tribes might confront the Houthis after their backlash against them since the coup, and with the support of Hamdan tribe can circle Sanaa and close the roads connecting it with the governorates of Saada, Hajjah and Mahweet.

[Guardian] A dangerous extremist who attempted to build an army of child jihadists by radicalising pupils has been convicted of a range of terrorism offences.

Umar Haque, 25, taught an Islamic studies class despite having no teaching qualifications and being employed as an administrator. He was allowed to supervise classes of 11- to 14-year-olds on his own, during which he re-enacted attacks on police officers and showed students videos of beheadings.

Police fear Haque attempted to radicalise at least 110 children, some of whom he was in contact with at the Ripple Road mosque in Barking, east London. Thirty-five of the children are receiving long-term support.

Haque also worked at the £3,000-a-year Lantern of Knowledge Islamic school, where he was again allowed access to children alone under the pretence of teaching Islamic studies when he was in fact employed as an administrator.

Jurors were told he attempted to radicalise children at the school, but were unable to agree on a count of disseminating a terrorist document which related to his time at the school.

Haque was convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey on Friday of a number of offences, including plotting terrorist attacks. He had previously admitted four charges of collecting information useful for terrorism and one count of disseminating a terrorist document in relation to his attempts to radicalise children at the mosque. He was acquitted of conspiring to possess firearms.

#5
I don’t know what the rules are in Britain, but in America many of the teachers in Sunday schools and after school programs associated with religious institutions are volunteers from all walks of life whose training consists of being handed a pile of forms and the curriculum. Private day schools, religious or not, do not have the same requirements for teachers as public schools do as well, tending to hire those with degrees in the subject rather than teaching degrees.

[FoxNews] Two undetonated explosive devices were found Thursday attached to a ferry at a popular Mexican tourist destination where several Americans were injured in a separate explosion last month.

Mexican officials said they are investigating the explosive founds in the ferry that runs between Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, while the U.S. embassy in Mexico issued a security alert.

"U.S. government employees are prohibited from using all tourist ferries on this route until further notice. Mexican and U.S. law enforcement continue to investigate," the embassy said in the alert.

Last month’s blast aboard a ferry on the same route injured 25 people, including seven Americans. None of the injuries were life-threatening. The ferry was unloading passengers in Playa del Carmen on Feb. 21 when the explosion occurred.

Quintana Roo port officials said at the time that it appeared a mechanical failure was to blame. However, the U.S. embassy said Thursday the blast was due to an explosive device.

Except for isolated shootings last year, the Caribbean coast had largely been spared the violence plaguing other parts of Mexico. The coast provides much of Mexico's tourism revenue.

The company whose boat was hit by the Feb. 21 blast was suspended from operating four days later. The firm said it had the necessary operating permits.

Local media have reported the company is owned by the father of former Quintana Roo state governor Roberto Borge, who is under arrest on corruption charges.

Local media have also reported that a drug gang had taken credit for the blast, Reuters reported.

[DAILYCALLER] "ICE headquarters, Murphy speaking!"
"Agent 489 reporting, sir! 230 arrests in the Bay Area!"
"They were warned, 489! How many of them are dumbasses?"
"All of them, sir!"To include the mayor.

#2
Well, no one will notify various SF police forces of the next ones. Ultimately, a confrontation will occur between armed forces that fail to coordinate efforts. If the record is any indicator, my money is on ICE.

[DAWN] TANK: Unknown assailants bumped off two youths and threw their bodies at a roadside here on Thursday.

Mohammad Javed, son of Mohammad Rasool, reported to Gul Imam cop shoppe that his brother Jehan Zeb and cousin Hazratullah were missing since Wednesday and Mullazai cop shoppe was informed through phone in this regard.

However,if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... on Thursday they were informed that bodies of Jehan Zeb and Hazratullah were lying at the roadside in the area.

According to police, the two were tortured and then killed as they were blindfolded and their hands were tied with ropes.

They said that the two were shot in the head. The youth belonged to Bhittani...a Pashtun tribe centered on Jandola, in Tank district. They are the hereditary enemies of the Mehsuds, unless there are furriners or infidels around, in which case they share ammunition and targeting data... tribe of Ber Mullahkhel.

The family members refused to receive the bodies and said that such incidents of killing were taking place regularly, but the police were not taking action against the assailants. However,if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... they received the bodies for burial after the assistant political agent, FR Tank, Bashir Ahmed assured them that the killers would soon be locked away... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not....

[DAWN] A suicide boom-mobile targeting a foreign forces convoy rocked eastern Kabul early Friday, killing at least one civilian and injuring four in an area where many expatriates reside, the Afghan interior ministry said.

"Unfortunately around 9:00 am, a boom-mobileing took place in (the) Qabil Bay area of Kabul," ministry front man Najib Danish told AFP, giving the toll and adding that police are investigating.

Earlier, Danish had said the kaboom took place "in" the vehicle, which he initially said belonged to an international contractor.

Another interior ministry front man, Nasrat Rahimi, said it was not clear if there were foreign casualties following the blast.

Local media showed extensive damage to the facades of nearby houses, and witnesses reported a strong kaboom.

No group immediately claimed the attack, which is the latest to hit Kabul, one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians as both the Taliban...Arabic for students... and the expanding hard boyIslamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group step up their assaults on the city.

[DAWN] Hyderabad police on Friday claimed to have busted a gang which was reportedly getting funding from India to sabotage China-Pakistain Economic Corridor (CPEC) and target security personnel in Sindh.

Hyderabad DIG Javed Alam Odho and SSP Pir Mohammad Shah held a joint presser to share the details of the suspected terrorist group with the media.

The official said that the five-member group was led by the self-proclaimed chief of Sindhudesh Revolution Army (SRA), and it was targeting security personnel and Chinese nationals.

"The suspects were running a sub-nationalist group to launch a separatist movement in the province and, according to their own confession, they were trained and sponsored by India," DIG Javed Odho said, adding that the "suspects used to frequently visit India by crossing the border near Badin district".

SSP Shah said the suspects identified as Muzaffar Hussain Nanjgraj, Murtaza Abro, Shakeel Ghangro, Rafaqat Jarwar and Arbab Soomro, were incarcerated... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... after an encounter in Aliabad area of the city in the wee hours of Friday.

Police also claimed to have recovered arms and explosives from their possession. "Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), kaboom weighing 12kg and weapons were recovered from their possession after last night’s encounter," Odho said.

He further said that Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khowaja has announced Rs0.5 million reward for entire police team of SSP Hyderabad, CIA in-charge Aslam Langah, and others for busting the gang.

Odho mentioned that suspect Muzaffar Hussain Nanjrajt, who travelled to India under codename Pankhaj, had confessed to his involvement in Rohri bypass kaboom on Dec 2016, Mehrabpur kaboom in March 2017, January 2018 blast in Qasimabad in which one ragpicker had died, as well as planting of a bomb outside Mehran University in Jamshoro in November 2017.

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An official from Nineveh province has denied news that the Christian victims found in a mass grave, recently found in west of Mosul, were killed by Islamic State members.

Speaking to Baghdad Today website, Dureid Hikmat, deputy governor of Nineveh for Christians affairs, said, “the mass grave that was found in Mosul is not for victims killed by Islamic State, but for people who were killed more than 30 years ago.”

Hikmat added that the buried people were Christians.

On Thursday, news reports said Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) along with security troops in Halila region, near Badush in west of Mosul, ran into a mass grave of Christians who were kidnapped from the region.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops, along with fighter jets, have killed and arrested more than twenty Islamic State members and leaders in west of Mosul, a security source was quoted saying on Friday.

“Security troops arrested, today, 17 IS members in al-Rayhaniya village and seize the weapons in their possession in Badush, west of Mosul,” the source told Baghdad Today website.

Moreover, the source added that “eight members including three leaders were killed in an airstrike against al-Atshana mountain, in the wake of their attack against a checkpoint in Badush and fleeing to mountainous areas.”

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) People in the Iraqi city of Mosul are still filled with apprehension from chemicals left over from Islamic State militants’ bygone presence in the country’s second largest city, a news agency reports, saying that security forces do little to work out a solution.

The agency quoted locals saying that Iraqi security forces would only mark contaminated houses with red tapes and writing warning phrases. People quoted by the agency say Iraqi teams handling the issue seem to be not properly prepared for the challenge.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Lit. Yaareb al-Mosawi, a member of the Iraqi army’s engineering division working on war waste removal, confirmed the chemical danger and the forces’ unpreparedness.

He said the forces lack the instrument needed for the removal of such materials, as well as the personnel trained for that purpose. He revealed that teams content with the removal of unexploded IEDs and rockets.

According to the officer, there are 130 locations with dangerous chemical materials only in the Old City, the medieval district from where IS declared the establishment of its self-styled “caliphate” in 2014.

Iraqi and coalition forces had occasionally reported the use of chemical weapons by IS militants during the three-year war.

Destruction, explosive waste and chemical leftovers have made thousands of displaced civilians reluctant to return to the city.

United Nations experts said last month it would take a decade to remove millions of explosive ordnance from areas recaptured from IS.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while two others were wounded in a bomb blast in west of Baghdad, a security source was quoted saying on Friday.

“A bomb went off in the morning near a market in al-Zidan region in Abu Ghraib district,” the source told Alghad Press website.

“The blast left one civilian killed and two others wounded,” he said. “Security troops cordoned off the explosion scene, while ambulances transferred the wounded to hospital and the victim to forensic medicine department.”

Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Civilians at Iraqi province Diyala have managed to free two shepherds held by Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Death Eaters, a local official was quoted saying on Thursday.

Mohammed Deyfan al-Obaidi, mayor of Diyala’s al-Udhaim, told Alsumaria News that Islamic State murderous Moslems kidnapped two shepherds near Mubarak al-Farhan village, on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin.

"Locals went out in a popular uprise to chase the murderous Moslems and managed to free the shepherds and their herds," said Obaidi. He added that the murderous Moslems fled to nearby valleys.

Some local officials had previously been quoted saying that Islamic State resorted to kidnapping and ransoms in the province as means to offset drained financial resources.

Though Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the fall of Islamic State’s bastions across Iraq last December, which they occupied in 2014, the group seems to maintain some hideouts at desert areas, especially between Diyala and Salahuddin.

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Four Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... members were killed as the pro-government troops repulsed an attack on the borders between Iraq and Syria.

A statement by the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) thwarted, on Thursday evening, an attack by the murderous Moslems in Tal Sufuk region, on the Iraqi-Syrian borders.

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Aerospace Forces heavily bombarded the East Ghouta region these last 24 hours, striking several areas controlled by the jihadist rebels.

According to a military report from Damascus, the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out 30 sorties over the East Ghouta in the last 24 hours, targeting the towns of Douma, Zamalka, Arbeen, Harasta, Mesraba, Utaya, and Jobar.

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored another big advance in the East Ghouta region on Friday, seizing an imperative military base that was one hailed as Jaish al-Islam...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful...’s most important installation.

Led by the Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army managed to take control of the Battalion 274 base that is located just south of al-Shifouniyah.

Battalion 274 was used by Jaish al-Islam to train new recruits and house several of its fighters prior to the Syrian Arab Army’s large-scale offensive this year.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.